Facebook launches gaming app, adds promotion opportunities in Groups
It was a good weekend for Facebook. Their new app, Facebook Gaming, launched on iOS, and there are some new sponsored post options for Groups that might spice things up for businesses and marketers alike. Here’s what you need to know:
- Facebook Gaming was disappointing for many. Facebook’s gaming app launched on iOS Friday, but the debut was bittersweet. The company announced that after a long fight with Apple, Instant Games (their name for the minigames built to be in the app) had to be removed. In the end, we got a result that some found to be less than impressive.
- Facebook Group admins can now publish sponsored posts with or on behalf of advertisers. This is pretty big news – if you’re a marketer, this means you can now partner up with admins in key FB groups in your vertical to promote your product. And if you’re a group admin, it’s another way to generate revenue! One caveat: this only applies to public Facebook Groups.
Facebook Gaming might not take off like the marketers (and gamers) in us wanted it to, but it’s something to keep an eye on – if Apple ever eases up on their guidelines, Instant Games might draw some attention to the app. For now, though, it’s time to start testing some sponsored promotions in Groups!
TIKTOK
TikTok’s future has never been more uncertain
What’s this? More TikTok news?
We’re sorry. We really are, because we’re just as tired of hearing about TikTok’s uncertain future than you are. But, we’re marketers, and when one of the hottest social media platforms is in the kerfuffle that TikTok is, it’s impossible to ignore.
Last week, we learned that TikTok was likely going to be forced to sell or face a ban in the United States, and Microsoft was the top contender for an acquisition. Here’s what happened this weekend:
- Donald Trump issued an executive order effectively banning TikTok (and WeChat) in the U.S., starting September 20. The offer still stands, though – if ByteDance closes a deal to sell TikTok before that date, the app will be allowed to remain.
- Microsoft may no longer be the frontrunner to acquire the app. Last week, Microsoft was the only major company that had confirmed rumors of a potential acquisition. A major WSJ report changed everything, though, claiming that Twitter and TikTok were in discussion for a potential merger.
- TikTok is not happy. At all. The company made a statement on Trump’s executive order, stating that it was “issued without any due process” and “risks undermining global businesses’ trust” in the United States. Things got even crazier when NPR reported that TikTok may be filing a lawsuit against the U.S. government as soon as tomorrow.
The Crew’s take: Things change by the day with TikTok, but one thing’s for certain – if TikTok isn’t able to come to an agreement quickly, it’s going to be a wild ride for the future of the app.
SPONSORED BY CHARTR
The surprising stories data tells us
What’s a deal with a Kardashian worth to a company’s share price?
If you’re a subscriber to Chartr’s free newsletter, you’d know.
Chartr is a newsletter like you’ve never seen before, going deeper than the headlines with data-driven insights.
Chartr’s free 5-minute newsletter is jam-packed with stunning visuals and fresh insights into business, technology, entertainment & politics. Past newsletters have explored:
- Should you really buy stocks after a big market crash?
- What’s the next diet craze?
- How Michael Jordan’s NBA record compares with other greats?
- When are Twitter users happiest?
- Who profits from your morning cup of coffee?
Chartr answers these questions with data and charts.
You can listen to people’s opinions on Facebook groups. Or you can truly understand what’s happening in our world with data. Like you do with your campaigns.
SEO
Amazon SEO vs. Google SEO
Amazon is more important than ever. Two years ago, the company surpassed Google in product search volume – if you can get your product near the top of Amazon’s search pages, you’re in luck. Unfortunately, too many sellers try to adopt their Google SEO knowledge to Amazon (hint: it doesn’t work).
Amazon SEO just isn’t the same, and this post from Travis Jamison at CXL clarifies the main differences between Amazon SEO and Google SEO. Let’s take a look at some of the similarities and differences between the two:
What’s the same?
- Keywords still matter.
- Click-through rate is still a proxy for relevance.
- Hardly anyone gets to page 1.
What’s different?
Here are the keys that will help you hit the bullseye on Amazon, and that differs from Google SEO.
+ Single use of keywords is sufficient as long as they’re relevant. Keywords stuffing can be easier on Amazon (please don’t do it on Google), and here’s what experts suggest:
- Titles: Include the product, material, quantity, brand, and color in the title.
- Product description: Amazon prefers bullets over walls of text (We have the same taste when it comes to emails).
- Backend keywords: Amazon allows sellers to include “backend keywords,” (that don’t get shown to the user) such as related terms, common misspellings, and even foreign-language versions.
+ Optimize for the user: Given Amazon is focused on sales and having end-to-end analytics, sellers can focus on copywriting that persuades the user to buy.
+ External links are valuable if they result in traffic: The main difference with Google here is that Google looks at backlink as a mark of authority. Amazon looks at backlinks as a source of leads.
+ Internal PPC traffic is less relevant than it was before: Running Amazon Ads does influence your positioning, but not to the point that you should build an SEO strategy around it.
+ Click-through (CTR) and conversion rates (CR) are critical. The CTR indicates how relevant your listing is to the user. The CR determines how many purchases you can generate, and as you know, Amazon’s ultimate goal is selling…
+ Sellers’ authority remains a paramount, and this is determined by:
- How long sellers have been on Amazon.
- The percentage of returns.
- Overall feedback from customers.
Hey, it’s been a long read, and according to Travis, the juice is:
On Amazon you can focus more on satisfying the user rather than algorithms…
And that’s music to our ears!
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
YOUTUBE: Finally – YouTube email notifications about new videos are going away for good this week. The rationale? Their open rate was less than 0.1%… talk about rookie numbers.
SEO: Google is testing a reduction of some of the options in Google Discover, according to Valentin Pletzer on Twitter.
WORDPRESS: The Astra theme has been suspended for allegedly engaging in shady affiliate linking practices – this affects more than 1 million WordPress users worldwide.
COPYWRITING: You know that oat milk drink you see in every fancy organic grocery store? You know, the one with all the writing on the carton? It’s called Oatly, and Nat Eliason just put together a brilliant piece on why their copy might not be as innocent as you think.
BRAIN TEASER
In 1990, a person is 15 years old. In 1995, that same person is 10 years old. How can this be?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Which type are you? – “I’m an ideas man, Michael!”
Do you come up with ideas a million miles an hour but can’t always follow through? Or, maybe, you aren’t the ideas person but you could pull a 10X ROAS selling dirty laundry. Or maybe you’re none of the above.
Wherever you feel your strengths lie, Ryan Deiss just put together an article on the four types of founders. Here’s how he laid things out:
- Inventor. These are the Don Drapers of the business world – the people who come up with brilliant, visionary ideas, even if they’re not involved with the down-and-dirty details of execution.
- Driver. It’s all in the name. Someone with a driver personality loves getting the work done themselves. If the phrase “if it’s going to get done right, it needs to get done by me” has ever crossed your mind, this is you.
- Manager. It doesn’t sound as exciting as Inventor or Driver, but good managers are the key to scaling a business. These personality types can identify talent and bring that talent up to speed in no time.
- Guide. Possibly the most hands-off of the four, a guide is great with high-level business and culture overview, knowing when to ask the hard questions.
Look, we get it. None of us like to be classified into a box, which is why Ryan provides a fifth option – all of the above. To be successful as businesses scale, we all need to be able to adapt as things change. You might have a mix of all four traits above!
And for those of you out there who aren’t founders (that’s probably almost everyone), this applies to all aspects of business, too. If there’s another founder type that you think should be added to this list, let us know! We’d love to hear from you.